


Easy

by queen_scribbles



Category: Pillars of Eternity
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-05
Updated: 2017-06-05
Packaged: 2018-11-09 09:06:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,417
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11101347
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/queen_scribbles/pseuds/queen_scribbles
Summary: Life was supposed to get easier after Thaos died. Apparently, the universe didn't get that memo.





	Easy

This was _supposed_ to be an easy day, was all Tavi could think when the hair on the back of her neck started a familiar prickling sensation. With a sigh of lamenting resignation, she tugged on Aloth’s arm-”We need to go. _Now_.”-dragging him away from the vendor’s cart they’d been perusing.

Just in time to avoid the crossbow quarrel that sang so close past her head Tavi would swear she heard the whine in her ear before it buried itself in a support post.

Even caught off-guard, Aloth recovered quickly and gamely followed as she bolted toward a side street. “So, who’s trying to kill us _now_?”

She snorted, reaching back to grasp his hand, needing the reassurance he was there. “’Member those assholes I’ve been runnin’ from for thirty years? Ones who killed my family? Them.”

“So, no reasoning with them, then,” he commented dryly, sounding only slightly out of breath.  


“I’d say you’re welcome to try-” she risked a glance over her shoulder, just in time to catch a glimpse of dark leathers and a grey cloak- “ _ **Shit**_. But I’ve lost too many people I care about to see you added to that list.” She dodged down an alley, pulling him after her.  


“Not to point out the obvious,” Aloth began, skidding slightly as they rounded the corner. “But with three decades’ determination behind them, isn’t it likely they’ll keep chasing until they catch up?”  


“Not _likely_ , city slicker, it’s a fuckin’ fact,” Tavi retorted, flinching slightly as her shoulder grazed a wooden crate.  


“Then why are we running?” He shifted course to avoid a puddle and had to let go of her hand. “You’re not usually one to run from a fight.”  


“I’m choosin’ the field of battle. Can either fight ‘em in the market, where there’s tons a’ people who might get hurt and livelihoods t’ ruin, or on the outskirts, where the worst we’ll destroy is an already-abandoned house,” she replied, glancing back to make sure he was keeping up.

“I’m... mildly discomfited by the amount of thought you’ve put into this,” Aloth muttered, eyes dark. “It speaks of entirely too much practice.”  


“Thirty years’ worth,” Tavi confirmed breathlessly. She reached for his hand again. “Less talk, more running.”  


He nodded and the two of them continued on in silence, hands clasped together as they ran.

**> |<**

They wound up following a rather more convoluted route than Tavi would have liked--a lot of hoping alleys weren’t dead-ends--but they did reach what she deemed a suitable distance from the majority of the city relatively unscathed. (And what were a few bruises, really?)

They turned to face the way they’d come, wait for their pursuers, and she glanced over at Aloth. “If I counted right, there’s four of ‘em. You ready?”

He nodded, a flame shield shimmering into existence around him as the first of the men came into view.

Tavi stepped forward, instinct driving her to stay in the way of danger even when she wasn’t wearing full armor. Her hands rested on her sabres as she addressed the dark-clad figure. “And what do you want?”

“Your head, of course,” he shrugged, as if making small talk at a tea party. He nodded toward Aloth. “Don’t make this difficult and maybe we’ll let him go.”  


She drew her blades, sizing up the man and the two others who had joined him. “ _Maybe_ ain’t convincin’ at all, ‘specially when I always win these little showdowns. It’s been thirty fuckin’ years, why dontcha just give up before I spur another recruitment drive?”

He ignored her goading, instead drawing a stiletto and nodding to his associates. The stockier of the two charged first, wielding a set of matching, beautiful, and incredibly dangerous looking daggers.

Even as Tavi braced herself to intercept him, Aloth hollered “ _Move!_ ” and she dodged sideways instead. A huge lightning bolt crackled through the air toward their attackers, and she grinned wickedly as she realized that, in readying themselves to attack, the men had lined up oh-so-neatly.

The men realized it, too--a split second too late. Even as the leader and Stocky scrambled to get out of the way, the air seared white with the surge of electricity and caught every single one of them.

“I thought you said there were four?” Aloth said, pale blue glow of another spell already building around his hands.

“If I counted right!” Tavi reminded him, stepping forward toward Stocky. The man’s leather armor had somewhat dampened the effect  of the lightning and he was recovering much faster than his fellows.  


A quarrel slammed into the sand where her foot had been.

“See, four!” she called over her shoulder, not taking her eyes off her target. “Though he seems a tad slow.”  


As if in retaliation, the next bolt sliced open her forearm.

“Son of a _bitch_ ,” Tavi growled, venting her frustration in two hard, fast strikes against Stocky. He managed to block one, but the other slashed into his shoulder and he yowled in pain. “We need to deal with him!”  


“I think we have a more pressing concern at the moment!” Aloth retorted, urgency in his voice.  


She spared brief glance toward the slim man who’d hung toward the back of his group. “Shit!” The word was all she got out before the incredibly familiar projectiles of a spell from the Minoletta family(those were Aloth’s favorites, of course she recognized them) streaked toward them. Specifically _him_. “ ** _Aloth!_** ”

His flame shield flared brighter in her peripheral vision, and one of the missiles disintegrated completely upon contact. A second one ricocheted toward her, so only one made it through to actually hit Aloth. Tavi didn’t see how badly, thought, because the one headed her way slammed into her shoulder hard, making her lurch forward. She grit her teeth and leaned into it, using her momentum to slam into Stocky and knock the wind out of him. The leader reached her as Stocky doubled over. His stiletto glanced off her shoulder, her chain shirt keeping it from doing any real damage. _And that’s why I always wear **something** ,_ she thought darkly as she instinctively cranked her elbow back into his jaw.

He had good reflexes. Fingers like iron closed around her arm as his head snapped back, growling out curses. “If you’re too much trouble, maybe we make you watch him die. Take the fight outta ya,” he hissed as he twisted her arm behind her back.

“That would backfire _really **fuckin** ’ horribly_ on you,” Tavi snarled, using him for balance as she leaned back to kick Stocky in the face. He reeled backwards and fell. His head hit the ground with a sickening crack and he moaned as he tried to struggle back to his feet.

Tavi stomped on his hand and grinned when he and Slim yowled in pain almost in tandem. A quick glance at the attacking wizard and her grin turned almost feral. His clothes were still smoldering from whatever Aloth had done in retaliation, the wounds he’d sustained pulsing with an unnatural glow. His eyes narrowed in pain and fury as he began chanting another spell of his own.

In the brief respite he got from that threat, Aloth sent a bolt of necrotic energy lancing into the leader’s back.

The man grunted in pain, dropping to his knees and losing his grip on Tavi’s arm. “Change of plans, lads!” he barks. “Wizard first, then the scrapper!” The all obliged, turning their attention to Aloth.

Heartbeat pounding in her ears, arm throbbing from the abuse heaped upon it, Tavi let out a scream of rage as she whirled and slashed at the leader. She caught him across the throat mid-standing motion, and he dropped, clutching at the wound.

 _Well, that was lucky_ , she thought to herself, rolling her bad shoulder and feeling the entirely of her arm protest. That was when she noticed Stocky was moving--much faster than she would have expected--toward Aloth.

He was already out of her range, too close to Aloth, unless she threw one of her sabres. And she didn’t trust her aim right now. So she hollered a warning and headed for the enemy wizard instead, looking around for the elusive crossbow wielder as she ran. She heard the wicked hiss of another quarrel cutting through the air, heard Aloth’s breath catch, as if swallowing a cry of pain, but couldn’t afford to falter now.

She caught Slim off-guard, one sabre slashing into his grimoire as the other knocked aside his wand. They needed to finish this; her shoulder was screaming in pain and she had no idea how Aloth was doing. She took another swing at Slim with her good arm, sabre rending open the front of his robes. The wizard reeled back, clothes quickly turning crimson from the gash across his chest. He snarled and swung at her. It only half connected, but still hurt. Tavi shook it off and lunged forward, ramming her sabres into his chest up to their hilts.

There was a burst of magical energy behind her, and Tavi spun around just in time to see Stocky go reeling back from the impact of Aloth slamming his grimoire into the man’s chest. He crumpled lifelessly to the ground, empty eyes staring at the clear blue sky.

Tavi nodded in grim satisfaction, yanking her sabres free of the wizard and letting him tumble in a lifeless heap as well. “You alright, city slicker?”

Aloth nodded, despite the gash along his cheekbone. “Better than them, at any rate-” His expression hardened and he threw one hand forward with a hastily muttered incantation. Pale purple light formed around his hand and surged down the blade of his dagger, a trio of magic missiles racing forth to slam into the leader, who apparently had only been _mostly_ dead and trying to rise to his feet. “Now we can focus on finding the individual with the crossbow.”

“Maybe he bolted?” Tavi suggested, smirking at the unintentional pun.  


A brief smile tugged Aloth’s lips. “Somehow I doubt that. These seemed like very... driven individuals.”

“They are,” Tavi said with a sigh, scanning their surroundings for any sign of the lone survivor. “I was kinda hopin’ they’d given up, considerin’ I didn’t see hide or hair of ‘em the whole time we were chasin’ Thaos. Silly me.”  


She _really_ didn’t like that there was no trace of the archer. Especially knowing he was uninjured and fresh as a daisy. If he had more than one weapon on him, he could pick them both off before they had a clue. The hair on the back of her neck started tingling again, and Tavi grabbed Aloth’s arm. “We really shouldn’t be out in the open-”

A quarrel skimmed across the back of her hand and nicked Aloth arm.

“That was just a warning shot!” a heavily accented voice rang out, underscored by the ratcheting of a crossbow being reloaded. “Next one won’t miss!”  


“Fuck you!” Tavi barked in roughly his direction, curling the wounded arm in against her chest. It had been a long time since she’d wanted to kill someone quite this badly. White speckled across her vision and it took a concentrated effort not to pass out as she and Aloth hid behind a partially-collapsed hut. “Still can’t tell where the copperfucker is.”  


Aloth smiled thinly, not even trying to hide his concern as he looked at her arm. “You enjoyed learnin’ that one, didn’t ya?”

She nodded and leaned back against the wall, eyebrow twitching only fractionally at the hint of brogue creeping into his voice. Maybe she didn’t mind if Iselmyr showed up right now... “He’s all yours, city slicker. Assumin’ you... you have ways of hittin’ a target you can’t see?”

“Oh, aye.” There was _definitely_ some Iselmyr in that grin. Aloth closed his eyes for a moment, concentrating hard. “I know just the thing.” His voice was back to normal. “Stay here.” He stepped out into the open once more. “I just need him to take another shot.”  


Tavi nodded, ignoring the cold feeling in her gut and sliding toward the opposite corner of the ruined hut. She could hear Aloth chanting whatever spell he had in mind, trusted he knew what he was doing, but a little back up never hurt anybody.

Unfortunately, the gods didn’t agree with that. As she stepped around the corner, searing pain lanced through her knee. When Tavi looked down she was greeted by a growing crimson stain on her pant leg and a bloody quarrel embedded in the wall behind her. 

“Son of a bitch _,_ ” she hissed, leaning against the wall and biting back a cry of pain into a whimper.  


“I told you I would not miss.” The crossbow wielder stepped into view, nocking another quarrel as he stared at her. “This one won’t either. All of this _scioderie_ and it didn’t help at all...”  


“Go to Hel, _bazzo_!” Tavi spat, white knuckle grip on her sabre.  


He just chuckled and aimed his crossbow at her. He never got to pull the trigger. The giant column of ice that sprouted from the ground saw to that. His smirk turned into a yowl of pain as splintering ice tore into his leg.

Tavi pushed away from the wall as he fell, hobbling forward close to impale him on her sabre. “Fuck. You,” she growled as she watched his pale eyes dim.

He fell with a small, choked gurgle and lay still. There was a sound of hurrying feet-”Tavi?”-and then a hand on her good arm. “ _Tavi!_ ”

She turned and gave Aloth a wan smile. “Good timing.”

“When I said I needed him to take another shot, this is not what I meant,” Aloth said quietly, pulling her arm around his shoulders so he could support her.  


“It’s not that bad,” she protested, leaning heavily against him.  


“Tavi.” There was a note of fond concern in his voice as he helped her toward a low stone wall. “We need to get you to a healer.”  


“It’s just a flesh wound,” she insisted as she sat on the wall and probed at the wound in her leg. “Just bandage me up and I’ll make it back to Caed Nua. Keya can take care of me.” She gestured briefly with her injured arm before letting it rest against her lap.  


“Gods, _no_!” Aloth said vehemently, crouching to examine her leg. “It’ll take us least three days to get back. That’s more than enough time for them to start festering.”  


Tavi was briefly distracted from the current debate by the angry red slash across his bicep. “What happened there?”

Aloth glanced toward the cut when she tapped just above it. “The one with the daggers got quite close. But it’s shallow and not at all life-threatening. Stop trying to change the subject.”

She huffed out a resigned laugh, trying to figure out how to explain her borderline-paranoia regarding strangers for the couple weeks following one of these attacks. _Then again,_ a little voice whispered in her head, _you’re not alone this time. You have someone who you can trust to watch your back._  “Alright,” she conceded(to both the voice and Aloth). “I’ll go see a healer.”

Aloth looked mildly surprised at how easily she’d given in.  “Excellent.”

“On one condition.”  


“Tavi-”  


“You let them patch you up, too. I’m the only one allowed to be scarred and attractive around here.”  


He laughed as he stood and helped her up. “You have a deal. But they’re taking care of you first.”

“No arguments here,” Tavi winced, draping her arm around his shoulders once more. “Let’s go find a healer.”  


“What about them?” Aloth nodded toward the dead bodies of their attackers.  


“Leave ‘em for now. After we see a healer, we can either report ‘em or take care of them ourselves,” she said, staring almost  numbly at her bloodied arm. “Probably report ‘em, ‘cause we’re gonna hafta explain this.”  


“Very true.” He tightened his grip when she stumbled. “Hopefully we won’t have to look very far.”  


“What’s a matter? Don’t think you could carry me?” Tavi needled as they made their slow way back into town.  


“Oh, I’m sure I’d manage. I’m more worried about how much blood you’re losing. Are they always that determined?”  


“One group was worse, actually,” Tavi panted. “They had _two_ wizards and were led by an extremely sneaky rogue. Aside from the night our house got torched, that’s the only group I’ve ever run from. These guys would probably have been the second; if I didn’t have you backin’ me up.”  


He smiled at that, which tightened around the edges when her head lolled against his shoulder. “Tavi. Tavi, stay awake.”

“’M awake, Aloth,” she muttered petulantly. “m’ shoulder ‘n neck hurt.”  


They kept up a steady stream of small talk all through the search for a healer. Tavi was fairly certain Aloth was just trying to keep her conscious, given how much he usually preferred to travel in silence. She appreciated his sacrifice, even if she was convinced it was unnecessary.

**> |<**

Fortunately for them, the city was rough enough around the edges that a pair of bloody elves asking around for a healer didn’t raise too many eyebrows. Also fortunately, it didn’t take too much asking before someone pointed them toward a simple building and told them to ask for Resvyn.

Tavi had very nearly hit her limits, and already mentally conceded Aloth was one hundred percent right--she wouldn’t have made it to Caed Nua--when they knocked on the door.

The man who opened it was unexpected; his silver eyes and pale blue skin only the more subtle signs he’d been touched by the gods. “May I help you?”

“Lookin’ for Resvyn,” Tavi grit out between clenched teeth.  


“You’ve found him,” the man smiled. “Please, come inside.” He opened the door and stood aside to let them pass. “I assume you’re here for my services as a healer?”

“You assume correctly,” Tavi nodded, suspicious nature assuaged by his calm, soothing voice. “Though that wasn’t a _hard_ guess.”  


“True,” Resvyn said, indicating a small room just past the door. “In there, please.”  


Tavi looked around as they followed, letting Aloth guide her so she could indulge her curious nature. The rooms she could see were plainly furnished, all with candles or lanterns hanging in the center. “You Eothasian?”

“I used to be,” Resvyn replied simply. “Will that be a problem?”  


“Nah.” She bit her lip as Aloth helped her sit on the raised bench along one wall. “Got a friend who’s Eothasian. I don’t judge. ‘Specially when the person in question is about to patch me up.”  


He chuckled as he gather supplies from a nearby cabinet. “An enlightened view.”

“I try,” she joked, unfastening her belt with one hand and trying to wriggle out of the chain shirt.  


“Here.” Aloth reached over and helped her slide it off.  


“The shirt should probably come off too, ‘cause of my shoulder,” Tavi pointed out.  


“Right.” He helped her gingerly work her way free of the garment, briefly wincing in sympathy.  


“What?” she demanded, glancing at Resvyn, who had gathered what he needed and was laying it out on a nearby table.  


“You have a rather colorful bruise,” Aloth informed her, fingertips ghosting over her shoulder. Even the light touch made her flinch-”Ow!”-and he snatched his hand back. “Sorry.”  


“S’alright, city slicker,” Tavi assured him, holding out her good hand until he took it. “That side of me’s just real tender right now.”

“I need you to hold this against your arm,” Resvyn instructed, holding out a substantial bundle of cloth. “It will slow the bleeding while I take care of your knee.”

Tavi reluctantly let go of Aloth’s hand to do as she was told. “I don’t have any special attachment to these pants, by the way, so you can just cut ‘em away or whatever.”

Resvyn nodded and did just that, cutting away the fabric a good two inches above her knee. “Quite the adventurer, aren’t you?” he said conversationally, glancing at the scars she’d collected on her arms and stomach, cutting across her ribcage and peeking from beneath her breast band.  


“Yep,” she replied, hissing in pain as he cleaned the wound. “Good career if you’re careful and good enough. Otherwise _really_ fuckin’ short.”  


He laughed quietly, the sound rippling like the tide against the shore. “Which is why I never tried.”

“It’s fun, though,” Tavi said. She winked cheekily at Aloth. “Even when you start by necessity.”  


He rolled his eyes and smiled. “I will admit, it has grown on me.” A pointed look at one of Tavi’s scars in particular. “Even if it is occasionally terrifying.”

**> |<**

Resvyn had Tavi’s knee cleaned, stitched, and bandaged in short order. He then moved on to the wounds on her arm and hand.  The one on her arm didn’t look _nearly_ as bad once cleaned of blood. It was a simple matter to bind, after rubbing the skin with an ointment to prevent festering.

So when Resvyn looked at her hand and winced, Tavi knew it had to be bad. “What’s wrong?”

“This wound is deeper than the other-” he nodded at her arm- “which means a better chance of it festering and of there being long-term damage. I will do what I can, of course. But if you have access to a healer wherever you consider home, you may want to have them do more. There will likely be some lingering stiffness, regardless. But with continued care that can be kept to a minimum.”  


“Gotcha,” Tavi nodded. “It gonna be bad enough to keep me from swingin’ a sword?”  


“It shouldn’t be, no.”

“Then I’ll manage,” she grinned, then fell silent to let him concentrate, her good hand intertwined with one of Aloth’s. He didn’t complain or pull free when her grip tightened at the pain as Resvyn cleaned, stitched, and bandaged the ugly gash across her knuckles. Compared to all that, the bruise on her shoulder was child’s play. A  salve rubbed in to dull the pain some and she was wriggling back into her shirt. “Thank you, Resvyn.” Tavi turned to Aloth. “Your turn.”  


“I know,” he replied. “I had no intention of weaseling out of my promise.”  


“Alright. Need me to hold your hand, too?” she teased as he passed her his cloak and grimoire.  


“No, my injuries aren’t nearly as extensive as yours,” Aloth said, dry sarcasm underlying the words. “I don’t think that’s necessary.”  


Still, after setting down cloak and grimoire, Tavi slipped her hand into his. Just because he thought it unnecessary didn’t mean she agreed.

The thin cut along his cheekbone and the nick on his arm merely required cleaning and were too small to be worth stitches. Resvyn was fairly positive they wouldn’t even scar. However, unlike Tavi’s injuries, the more serious gash across Aloth’s upper arm did _not_ look better once the blood was cleared away.

“Is it s’pposed to look...” Tavi began, lightly brushing her fingers against the darkened skin.  Aloth flinched and she pulled her hand back.  


“No,” Resvyn said, brow furrowing in concern. “What kind of weapon is this from?”  


“A dagger,” Aloth said slowly, frowning as if he’d just realized something unpleasant. “Is... Could there have been poison on the blade?”  


“Just what I was wondering,” Resvyn nodded.  


Tavi shot Aloth and incredulous look “You think you may’ve been fucking _poisoned_ an’ you’re just mentioning this _now_?! You should’ve gone first! What if it’s fast acting? What if it’s too-”

“I only _just_ had the thought,” Aloth cut her off. “And you bleeding to death from half a dozen-”  


“It was _ **three**_!”  


“-wounds seemed slightly more urgent than worrying about myself.”  


“It was only _three_ , city slicker,” Tavi repeated.  


“Because that’s so much better,” Aloth deadpanned, shifting obligingly when Resvyn wrapped one large, gentle hand around his arm. “Three wounds or six, you were still bleeding an awful lot.”

“And you were _poisoned,_ ” she snapped back, fighting against a wave of panic at what suddenly felt too real.  


“It hasn’t spread far,” Resvyn interjected calmly. “And I know something that can negate its effects.” He closed his eyes briefly, the crescent-shaped growth on his forehead glowing as he murmured a prayer of some sort. The hand covering the injury pulsed with pale green light. “There.” He let go of Aloth’s arm and reached into a nearby cabinet, pulling out a small blue glass bottle. “Drink this.”  


Aloth obeyed and pulled a sour face. “I hope it does something marvelous to make _that_ worthwhile...”

Resvyn chuckled. “I know. It’s awful. But it also will counter any of the poison that may have made it into your bloodstream.”

“Definitely worthwhile, then,” Tavi said firmly, squeezing Aloth’s hand. “Any damage from the spell?”

“Wh- Oh, no.” Aloth shook his head as Resvyn stitched and bandaged the wound.  


“Really?” Tavi raised a skeptical eyebrow. “’Cause the part of it that hit me hurt like a motherfucker. I wanna be sure you’re alright before we leave.”  


“Just bruised ribs, probably not even as bad as your shoulder since the flame shield slowed it down,” he insisted.  


“If you say so....” she sighed reluctantly. She trusted him to be able to judge. They’d been adventuring long enough, he had plenty of experience. If he said it wasn’t that bad, she was going to believe him that it wasn’t that bad. She could always bug him about them later, when he was half-asleep and less careful with his words if she was worried. So she turned to Resvyn. “What do we owe you?”  


“Between the supplies and the time?” he shrugged. “Five hundred pands.”  


“That doesn’t seem like nearly enough!” she protested.  


“It’s all I require,” Resvyn insisted with a smile.  


Tavi gave him a thousand. “There, five hundred for each. You saved both our lives, it’s only fair. Thank you.” She waited until Aloth had reclaimed him cloak and grimoire and then linked her good arm through his, tugging him toward the door. “C’mon, I’ll buy you a drink; get the taste of that potion outta your mouth.”

Aloth gave a wry laugh. “No arguments here.”

Arm in arm, the two of them meandered down the street in the general direction of the inn. After a day like today, they deserved a chance to take it easy.

**Author's Note:**

> Like Keya, Resvyn is a hired adventurer in Tavi’s game(Moon Godlike Priest, aumaua build), and I wanted to use him in something even if the only reason I hired him is to avoid using Durance. :P I had to redo the entire back half of this bc Josh clarified that priests don’t really _heal_. l using magic, health is restored by resting. They just replenish endurance. I went WELL CRAP. So now the only thing Resvyn uses that’s spell-like is one of the “prayers against [x]” that grants resistance to Poisoned.    
>  Have I mentioned before that I love the way these idiots bicker? I stg it’s still the way they say ‘I love you’. And they know it. They’re super fine to write because Tavi’s got an edge to her that most of my oc’s don’t. 


End file.
